Shadows Falling
by CanadianPunk
Summary: A new character and a new evil. please review


Shadows Falling 

Chapter 1 

"Look at them Tiger. So innocent, so unsuspecting of the evil that stalks their every move. Do you think they can survive out here? In this world so unlike their own?" 

"I cannot say my friend. But I know that if they are to survive they'll need our help." Turning from the edge of the high cliff the tiger like digimon retreated to the circle of warmth created by the fire. Tiger drifted off easily to sleep. But his companion was not so fortunate. Instead he stood looking down upon the group of seven for a long time. 

"I hope you are strong enough my friends." 

The group had now been in the digiworld for many days, they had all long ago lost count. Food was scarce and there seemed to be no end to the huge forest they had been traveling in for some time now. 

"Food...So hungry." Agumon lay groaning beside the fire, sniffing fiercely at the food being cooked upon the flame. 

"Just hold tight a little longer dude. It'll be ready soon." 

"Tai's right Agumon, and besides, didn't you ever learn not to hurry a master chef at work?" Raising her arm, Sora confidently pointed a stir stick at her chest. Tai, who was standing beside her took one look at her and promptly burst out in laughter. 

"Master chef?! HAHAHAH. That's a good one Sora. We'll all be lucky if we don't choke to death." At this point Tai was rolling on the ground beside Agumon who had joined in with Tai's chorus of laughter. 

"Tai!!! I'll show you choking to death." Throwing down her stick, Sora jumped down and grabbed Tai firmly around the throat and proceeded to show him what choking really was. 

"Ghahah, Agumon help me." Agumon who was at this time loosing the ability to breath, couldn't help but laugh even more at Tai's pathetic attempt at talking. "Sora common, this isn't funny...*hack, cough* I'm sorry." Hearing Tai's apology, Sora looked down at his face, eyed him suspiciously, then reluctantly let go of his throat. 

"There, serves you right. Supper will be ready in five minutes, so could you please go get everyone for me? Thank you Tai, you're such a dear." Mumbling, and trying to catch his breath, Tai got up and shot a quick, angry glance at Sora. Looking at her there, smiling silently to her self, Tai couldn't help feel something towards her. The way the fire flickered in her eyes. No, what am I thinking, she's just a friend, that's all. Shaking his head, Tai left the circle of light provided by the fire, and headed towards the river, where he hoped to find the others. 

Hmmmm, Tai really isn't that bad. Maybe I shouldn't have choked him so hard. Smiling to herself Sora listened as Tai passed through the thick forest and headed towards the river. He's even kind of cute. What am I saying? I know I've known him longer then anyone else, but he's just a friend. But, I've never felt this way before. Maybe I want him as more than a friend. Just then a loud shaking roused Sora from her thoughts. Turning to the direction from which the sound came from, she held out her stick in front of her. "Who's there?" Shaking a little, she heard her voice quiver and cursed herself for this show of weakness. 

"Come on Agumon, we need to find the others before Sora's food get's even worse" Tai was rubbing his throat where Sora had choked him. 

"Tai, you shouldn't be like that around her, don't you think it hurts her when you say that?" Tai stopped short and turned to face his digimon. 

"Well she doesn't seem to be to bothered by it. Come on." Turning away, Tai continued to head toward the river. Stupid Agumon, why does he always have to be right? And why does Sora have to react like that all the time? What is she trying to say? Does she think I like it when she gets angry when I'm only trying to lighten things up a little? Why can't I ever get things right with her? "Hey quit lagging behind back there we're almost at the river...." 

"JOE!!!!!! GRRRRRRR You little, come here I'll show you how it feels to be soaked to the bone." 

"Huh? That sounds like Mimi, and she doesn't seem too happy. We better hurry Agumon." Setting into a run, Tai and Agumon arrived at the river just in time to see Mimi throw Joe into the water. "What's going on here you guys?" 

"Oh nothing, I'm just teaching Joe a lesson on how to properly treat a lady." Lifting her chin up into the air Mimi walked past Tai. "Is it time to eat Tai?" 

"Yea it sure is." After helping Joe out of the river the gang headed back to the camp. Mimi was still yelling at Joe for being a clumsy oaf and pushing her into the water. While Tai was well in front of the others, thinking about Sora, he barely heard anything that was going on around him. 

"I said who's there?" Sora was shaking a little more now. Where's Tai, how long does it take to get to the river and back? "Show yourself or I'll be forced to use force!!" "Sora I'm right here, just say when." It was Biymon. She had flown out of the forest behind Sora and was ready for action. "There is no need for that my friend. We wish you no harm." Stepping into the light the voice revealed itself to be a digimon. He looked like a tiger. But there was more, there was someone, or something else with him. Stepping even closer to the fire the two figures came fully into view. The other was a human, a man, who looked older than Sora. When he spoke it was with a voice full of comfort, that seemed to say, you can trust me. 

"My name is Ryan, but everyone calls me Strike. And this is my digimon, Tigramon." Strike was tall, he had dark hair that looked much like Matt's. His clothes were worn and almost looked like something an officer in the army would wear. The digimon, Tigramon, was a huge black tiger. His claws were tinted golden, and shone brightly in the fire light. 

"Tiger." Corrected the huge black digimon. 

"Right. I assume that you are one of the digidestined?" 

"Yes, my name is Sora.... But" Before she could finish her sentence Sora was cut off by the familiar voices of Tai and Agumon. 

"Sora... HEY, who're you?" The two called out in unison. 

"Oh hey guys... This is Strike and his digimon, Tiger. We can trust them." She backed away allowing the two newcomers to get a better look at the other two. Just then Izzy walked into the clearing, he was discussing something with Tentomon. Matt and T.K came next followed by a red faced Joe and a very furious Mimi. 

"JOE!!! I can't believe you did that!!! I'm gonna get you back for that. No one pushes me into a river and gets away with it! What the? Who're you?" Everyone suddenly looked up when Mimi's chorus of yelling broke off into a very subdued tone. 

"My name is Strike, and this is Tiger. We are the guardians of the digital world. It is our sworn duty to protect the digimons here from all that will harm them. It is also our duty to watch over you." Stepping forward Tai extended his hand. 

"Well, as leader of the digidestined I welcome you to our uh...Our umm.." 

"Our group," finished Sora who also extended her hand. 

After all the others had been introduced, the group sat down and began to eat, the cold over cooked food. 

"Geez Sora, I really was just joking about the choking to death thing, but I think this food should be considered nuclear waste." 

"I don't know about you Tai, but I'm just glad to be eating again. If you don't want your share I'll have it." Agumon said hopefully. 

"Sure. Here you go buddy, enjoy. I'm gonna go get some water from the river. I'll be back later." Standing up Tai shot a quick glance at Sora, that he hoped no one had seen, and began to walk towards the river. 

Something's wrong with him. Sora thought to herself. I think I'll go find out what's up. "I'm gonna go get something to drink too. Tai was right, this food really is horrible. Here you go Biyomon, eat up." 

There's something wrong with all this. We searched all over this blasted island and we never found any other living human beings. How is it possible that one could just suddenly show up? 

"Tai?" 

"Sora. Hey what's up? Couldn't eat that stuff either huh?" 

"No, you were right, it really wasn't too great. But I also had the feeling that you weren't leaving just to get water. Want to tell me what you were thinking?" Moving forward, Sora sat down on the river bank beside Tai. She looked over at him and noticed he was staring straight back at her. Blushing, she looked away. 

"Yeah, alright. I'll tell you what I think. I think that this is really weird. I mean don't you think it's strange that after looking all over this island and seeing no sign of another human, all of a sudden one shows up. And we've never even heard about this so called guardian of the digital world. Who are we to say that this isn't some trick?" 

"So, you think that Strike is trying to get rid of us? Well Tai, Strike had me cornered without my digimon. If he wanted to get rid of us he could have started with me right then and there. Can't you just trust him?" Sora looked over at Tai with a concerned, angry look. 

"No Sora, I don't think I can yet. And I definitely won't trust anyone who sneeks up on you like that. I don't want you to get hurt Sora, I guess I'm over protective of you or something." Sora couldn't believe what Tai had just said. Does this mean he really does care about me? No, I'm probably just fooling myself, he probably only thinks of me as his best friend. 

Stupid. Why did I have to go and say that? I can't let her know. I don't even know if I like her like that. She's just a friend, that's all. She's just my best friend. "Well, we should get back to camp. It's getting late and I'm kinda tired." 

"Yeah, you're right, let's go. Maybe we could talk to Strike and find out more about him and Tiger." Reaching out her hand to the already standing Tai, Sora motioned for him to help her up. Tai, took her hand in his and pulled her to her feet. Their eyes met and they held each other's gaze for a few seconds until Sora turned away and headed back to camp. 

"So Strike, you say you're the guardian of the digital world?" It was Matt who spoke. He was already challenging Strikes claims of authority. 

"Yes Matt, I am." 

"And just how old are you?" 

"Well how old are you, I don't see how it matters." At this Mimi looked up with dread in her eyes. 

"Strike, just answer him. Matt doesn't deal well with authority figures, and well, if you get into an argument with him, you may never get out of it." 

"Alright then. I am 16. I still don't understand why it matters to you. 

"Well it just does." Matt turned away and changed the subject. "Where are Tai and Sora? I thought they just went to get water. Sheesh how long does that take?" 

"We're right here Matt." Tai and Sora walked into the clearing and sat down, each on opposite sides of the fire. "Well. Now that we're all together, we can talk about you two." Tai pointed directly at Strike and Tiger. Who raised their heads and stared back at him. 

End of Chapter 1 

Chapter 2 

They were all gathered around the fire. Strike and Tiger had begun to tell their story. 

"It all happened a few years ago, I can't remember exactly how many. I was maybe 11 or 12. But back then I was a normal kid just like you. Until one day a man came to me. He called himself Gennai. He was very wise, and for many days he came to our world and taught me many things. I already knew a lot about the digiworld before I even came here. I bet I probably could have draw an exact map of this Island without even having to see it. Then one night, he came and told me it was time for me to leave. He said that he had taught me all I needed to know, and that now there was nothing left for me except to meet my destiny. I didn't want to leave. But something inside me told me that I had no choice. So I went with him, I didn't even say goodbye to my parents." Strike stopped talking, his eyes were clouded and he looked like he was about to cry. Tiger sat up and continued the story. 

"I met Gennai long before Strike did. He found me lost in the jungle, I was Tigmon then, too weak to defend myself, and too young to know what I should be doing. Gennai took me under his wing and told me that one day I would be a great digimon. He kept me safe and always told me that the day was coming, and soon my destiny would be realized. Then one day, a boy fell from the sky. Ryan. Gennai told me that this was the boy from the human world. The boy that would rise to become the guardian of the digiworld, and I was to be his companion. From that point on, we have spent our time watching over this world, and waiting for the digidestined that Gennai said would soon arrive. And now, you're here." Everyone sat silently. It was unbelievable. 

"This is really weird." Tai stated in shocked amazement. He stood up and walked toward the edge of the clearing. "So, what exactly do you want with us?" 

"There is an evil in the digiworld. An evil to strong to comprehend. He stalks us even as we sit here. There is nowhere to hide from him. Nowhere to be safe. Gennai has told us that to destroy this evil the digidestineds must team up with the guardian." Strike spoke of the evil as if it was nothing but a mouse. But the sorrow in his eyes told everyone sitting there that it was much more than that. 

Then suddenly from above a loud buzzing descended upon the clearing. A huge insect digimon attacked the group. They were unprepared and before anyone knew what had happened the digimon was gone. And he took Sora with him. Tai was enraged. He yelled after the digimon, but the only response he got was a cry of help from Sora. 

"So it has begun." Strike stated blankly as though he had been waiting for this all night. 

"What do you mean it has begun?" Tai was yelling. His face was red and his eyes gleamed with a frightening rage. 

"His plan. He knows that the only way to destroy you, is to keep you separated. He will begin to remove one of you every night until you are all apart from eachother." 

"How do you know all this?" Matt stood up and walked forward to where Tai was standing. 

"I know this because I have spies." The answer seemed logical enough. Tai wasn't satisfied. He wasn't just going to sit back and do nothing. He had to go after Sora. 

"We have to follow them. Right now." Tai had already begun to leave. But Strike was quick to stop him. 

"No Tai, don't be stupid. This is just what they want us to do. Get us lost in the woods at night. The perfect place to kidnap the rest of us without any of the others knowing. We should stay here for the night and leave first thing in the morning." 

"I'll take first watch then. I doubt I'd be able to get much sleep anyways." Tai returned to the fire. He watched as the others fell asleep. Izzy was the last. He said not to worry. They would find Sora. Then only Tai and Agumon remained awake. Grrrr. I can't just sit here. Not while an evil creep has Sora. I can't let her get hurt. I'd kill myself if anything happened to her. Tai was looking up at the stars. He closed his eyes after a tear escaped and rolled silently down his cheek. "Agumon?" 

"Yeah Tai?" The tyrano-like digimon sat by the fire. He heard sadness in his friends voice, so he stood up and walked over toward Tai. 

"We're leaving now. You and I are going to go look for Sora. I can't sit here anymore. Knowing that she's in trouble. I just can't do it." 

"I understand." The two prepared to leave. They were quiet. They didn't want to wake anyone. But before they left the clearing Izzy woke up. 

"Tai? Where are you going? Are you leaving to find Sora?" 

"Yes we are. And I suppose you're going to tell us not to?" 

"No. I don't think it would matter what I said, you would just leave anyways sooner or later. So I was just going to suggest that I take over your watch duty. I'll tell the others that when I woke up you were already gone. I hope you find her Tai." Izzy had already pulled out his laptop and began typing something. 

"Thank you Izzy." Tai and Agumon left the clearing without looking back. They had a mission, and nothing would make them stop until they found what they were looking for. I'll find you Sora. I promise. 

End of Chapter 2 

Chapter 3 

"Where are you taking me?" Sora had been asking the same question over and over again. But she received nothing even close to an answer from the digimon who had kidnapped her and Biymon. It seemed like they had been flying all night. And it didn't seem to much like it was about to stop either. If only I could find out where we're going. I'd feel better then. I wonder if my friends are coming after me. Knowing them they probably thinks it's better to start in the morning. But Tai, maybe he's coming after me. 

"Welcome to my home, my little digidestined." Sora looked up and saw a huge figure wearing a black cloak with a hood that covered his face. She couldn't tell what it was. But she had a feeling that it was the evil Strike and Tiger had spoke of. 

"Who are you?" 

"You'll find out soon enough. Now you too." He pointed to two Phantom digimon. "Take this girl and her digimon to the dungeon. I'll deal with them later." He turned back towards the insect digimon. "This time I want you to capture the older boy, I believe his name is Joe. Now go. And remember, don't let them have a chance to attack." Sora heard his last command just before the two Phantomons took her into the huge black castle that she had been brought to. She hadn't seen it from the air, but it wasn't hard for her to tell that she was inside a castle. The Phantomons led her down many large winding staircases into the very bowels of the castle. She studied her surroundings carefully, looking for any chance of escape. When they had reached the dungeon. Sora was shoved into a cell and the door was locked. One of the Phantomons stayed behind to quard their prisoner. Biyomon lay still on the hard rock floor. She had been nocked unconscious by the insect digimon who had captured them. Great. Now I'm stuck in this place. Hmmmmm. I don't even want to think of what Mimi would say if she was here. Oh Tai. Are you coming after me? Sora yawned and fell asleep thinking about Tai and her friends. Wondering if she was ever going to get out of here. 

It was still an hour before dawn when everyone woke up. They woke to see Izzy working busily on his laptop and Tai not anywhere in sight. 

"Izzy?" 

"Yes Matt?" Izzy didn't even look up from his laptop 

"Where's Tai?" 

"He was gone when I woke up. I assume he and Agumon went after Sora." He voice was nonchalant and he never looked up to see the reaction on his friend's faces. Strike sighed, and began to pace. His brow was furrowed and he appeared to be deep in thought. When he spoke he said it word carefully, hoping he said everything the way he wanted to. 

"Well, I guess there is only one thing we can do. We have to leave and start are own search for Sora and now Tai. I don't think there is any chance we could catch up with him, but I have a way we could make sure he's alright." Strike raised his fingers to his mouth and whistled a long sharp note. In a few seconds a huge wolf digimon came bursting into the clearing. 

"That's Wolfmon. A powerful digimon. It is rumoured that there are only two remaining digimon of this species. Their own power destroyed them." Tentomon explained to the stunned group. 

"Wolfmon, I want you to track Tai. This is his scent," Strike pointed to the spot where Tai had last been seen sitting. "When you find him, stay hidden until danger arises." 

"Yes master." Without another word, Wolfmon jumped back into the forest and disappeared. 

"Tai will be alright now. We should leave and begin to look for Sora, and the evil that awaits for our arrival." No one had any disagreements. They gathered up their things quickly and were on their way just after the sun had risen. 

"Well Agumon, where do you think we are?" The two had been following the weak scent of the insect digimon. Agumon said he couls still smell it but their progress had slowed dramatically as dawn neared. 

"I'm pretty sure we're still on the trail of that digimon, but the scent is growing fainter." Agumon was sniffing the air again and spinning around in circles trying to find out which way the smell was travelling. 

"Well. In any case we should keep moving. I think we should keep going in the same direction. We're getting closer though, I can feel it." They began moving again, completely unaware of the creature following them in the darkness of the forest. 

"This is the way they went." Gabumon and Tiger had their noses pressed up against the forest floor. They had been given the job of tracking Tai and Agumon's path and they didn't take this responsibility lightly. 

"Oh just look at my hair. I wish someone hadn't shoved me into the river yesterday. Now I don't know what I'll do with this mess. *sigh.*" Mimi was fingering her hair and glaring back angrily at Joe who was walking with Izzy. 

"Oh Mimi know it off. We have more important things to worry about." Matt said from the front where he was walking with Strike. 

"Yea, like where Sora is." T.K spoke up after being silent for most of the morning. No one bothered to ask, but everyone knew he was upset about losing both Tai and Sora. Patamon was doing his best to cheer T.K up. 

"Hey Gomamon where are you going?" No one heard Joe. Izzy was talking very loudly with Tentomon and had apparently lost track of what was happening around him. "Gomamon?" Joe followed his digimon into the forest. For once not thinking about the dangers that could await within. 

"Over here Joe. I heard something coming from this direction. It sounded like a buzzing and I thought it might have been that insect digimon that took Sora away." Joe had was now standing beside Gomamon in the forest. 

"Well, I think you're just hearing things. Come on we have to catch up with the others before we get into trouble ourselves." Turning around, Joe became aware for the first time of just how deep they had gotten in the forest. He couldn't see anything in front of him or anywhere around him. Then, he heard it. The buzzing sound. "Gomamon?" Joe heard a soft groan and felt Gomamon's body press up against his leg. Reaching down, Joe picked up the unconscious digimon and held him close as he himself was knocked out and carried away into the sky. 

"Hey Joe. I've been thinking about everything and I decided that by pushing you into the water yesterday I got you back enough. Besides we do have more important things to worry about, so you're forgiven.... Joe?" Mimi turned around only to find that Joe had disappeared. At the same time a digimon flew by overhead. "Uhhhh, you guys. I think we have more trouble. Joe has just been KIDNAPPED." Everyone looked above and saw the insect digimon fly by. It was carrying something, something that no one doubted was Joe. 

"Well this is just perfect. I thought I said we had to stick together. Izzy weren't you walking beside him? Didn't you see what happened?" Strike had turned around his eyes were flaming. 

"I uh, well actually. No I didn't see what happened." It seemed that Izzy had just become fully aware of what had taken place. He and Tentomon were both blushing under the angry eyes of their friends. 

"This is great. Now there are only five of us still together. For all we know they could have captured Tai by now too." Matt was frustrated and kicked idly at the dirt. 

"No, they haven't captured Tai. If they had we would have received word from Wolfmon already. Well, we have to keep moving. Now we have more need to move faster. Let's go we'll follow him to his masters lair." Strike announced and began to run forward, following the digimon. 

"Tai? I'm hungry, do you have anything left to eat?" 

"Yea, I do..." Tai reached into his pocket and pulled out some candy that he had gotten from Joe. There was only a little left. If he gave it to Agumon, there wouldn't be anything left for him. "Here you go buddy. Don't worry about me, I'm not really hungry." Agumon took the candy from Tai's hand and sat down on the path to eat it. Sitting down on a rock, Tai folded his arms across his knees and laid his head down over them. Man, I'm tired... I don't think I can go on like this for much longer. But I have to. I have to do it for Sora. 

"Hey Tai are you alright?" Agumon was concerned. He had noticed that Tai was going on with little energy and probably the only thing keeping him going was Sora. 

"Yea, I'm alright right buddy." Tai reassured Agumon by flashing him a quick smile. Standing up, he stretched his arms and took a deep breath. "We should keep going, I have a feeling that we're getting closer... Hey, do you hear that?" 

"Here what?" Cupping his paw to his ear, Agumon listened for whatever it was that Tai heard. 

"That buzzing sound." They were looking up to the sky now and then they saw the evil digimon again. It looked like it was carrying something. Tai pulled out his telescope to get a better look. "Hey it's got Joe this time. Come on Agumon, let's follow him this time. He'll lead us right to where we want to be." The two took off at a run, trying to keep up with the flying digimon. The creature in the shadows also sped up, following closely behind his charge. 

"Excellent work. Now there are only five digidestines remaining together. And that blasted Strike. He could cause us some problems, but nothing to serious. Am I right my friend?" The hooded figure sat on a hard stone throne staring into a mirror that was showing him the outside world. He was resting his hand lightly on the head of a large White Wolf digimon. "And Tai, He's getting dangerously closer to us. But that is just as we planned isn't it?" Turning to a Phantomon guard the figure motioned him to come forward. "I want you to bring the two prisoners to me. I want them to be here when their friends arrive. I will destroy the digidestineds in front of each other. Making their suffering even worse." 

"As you wish master." 

The group had been following the flying digimon as well as they could but it sometimes escaped from their view. But by now that had already seen their destination. A huge black stone castle, sitting on the crest of a hill. 

"Hey look at who we finally caught up to." Matt yelled out when he spotted Tai a little ways ahead. "Hey Tai, wait up for us man." Running forward, the group caught up with Tai and Agumon. 

"Hey guys, what took you so long huh?" Tai smiled jokingly at his friends. "So, that's where we're headed. Pretty creepy looking isn't it." 

"It looks dirty and uncomfortable to me." Mimi stated while she brushed some dirt of her cloths. "Oh Mimi knock it off already." By now even Strike was overly annoyed with her complaining. 

"By my calculations we are about 4 kilometres away from the castle. We should keep moving." Izzy already started moving. T.K fell in line behind him and the others took their place in the group. Tai walked at the end with Agumon beside him. The digimon was worried about Tai. I'm too tired. If we have to fight I don't know if I'll be able to stay standing. I feel like I'm going to collapse right here. I have to keep moving, for Sora. The creature in the woods also moved forward, still hidden by the dense foliage. 

End of Chapter 3 

Chapter 4 

"Finally. I was starting to think we'd never get here. Four kilometres sure is a long way." Matt wiped the sweat from his forehead and stretched his legs out. 

"Actually that was about seven kilometres. I guess I made a miss calculation somewhere." Izzy was scratching his head and trying to figure out where he went wrong. While Tai, who had been lagging far behind the others, run forward and tried to get everyone moving again. It seemed as if his energy was renewed by his closeness to Sora. 

"Come on let's go you guys. We're almost there." Without looking back to see if anyone was following him Tai ran forward with Agumon following closely behind him. At this time a giant wolf shot out from the forest and ran to follow Tai. 

"Wow, Wolfmon is a faithful digimon." T.K said in slight surprise. 

"I gave him a charge. He was told to protect Tai, and that's what he's going to do until I say he can stop. But for now we're going to need him. So keeping him around is a good idea. Anyway, we should go." They moved forward again. They were so close to their goal now that nothing could stop them. 

When they arrived at the front door. Tai and Agumon discovered it to be open. So without practising any caution, the two entered and ran up the closest stairway they could find. Up and up they ran until they came to another door which led into a huge throne room. The room was empty, so they proceeded across it. At the other end they found a door that led outside. Stepping into the open air they saw for the first time, the evil which had been stalking them. He was wearing a cloak with a hood drawn over his face. Beside him stood a huge wolf digimon. "Welcome Tai. I am very glad that we have finally met." 

"Where's Sora?" Tai took a step forward and asked the figure firmly. 

"Right over there." The figure pointed toward the insect digimon. Held firmly in it's hands was a semi-conscious Sora and a wide awake Joe. 

"Hey Tai! It's good to see you. I was beginning to think you'd never show up. I don't know what they did to Sora, but I'm alright." Joe tried to wave but couldn't wedge his entire arm out of the digimon's grip. 

"Alright you creep what did you do to her?" His eyes were hard and cold. His gaze was unforgiving and seemed to say, 'if you hurt her, you will pay for it'. 

"She was giving us a little trouble. So instead of killing her, we just knocked her out. Of course, why wouldn't we want to see you die inside while we kill her right in front of you?" The dark figure talked with a mocking voice and then began to laugh at Tai had been grabbed and restrained by two Phantomon guards. "Good, now try to wake her up. I want her to be alive to witness the death of her friends before we do away with her. What the?" From behind Tai a loud roar was heard and a huge beast came bursting out of the castle. It was a Wolf. 

"Leave him alone or I'll rip you to shreds." The creature growled. When the Phantomon didn't release Tai. Wolfmon jumped forward and clawed at his enemies. Ripping them apart in mere seconds. 

"Insectomon take them away, don't let them be saved. Now it's my time to shine." The figure pulled back his hood and revealed a scarred face. It was the face of a human, except that there were scales covering every inch of his face. His teeth were yellow and very sharp. "It's time for you to die boy." 

"NO!!!" Strike had charged onto the roof. Tiger was right behind him. "Tiger, do your stuff." 

TIGERMON DIGIVOLVE TO...... DRAGRAMON. The great black Tiger disappeared, and in it's place was a Dragon. Tai saw an opportunity not to be missed in this turn of events. He turned and pointed at Strike. 

"Strike." Tai looked up and pointed to the digimon in flight above them. "Go after him you and Dragramon are the only ones that can fly up there to stop him. I'm counting on you to save Sora for me. Agumon digivolve." 

AGUMON DIGIVOLVE TO....... GREYMON. 

"I'll help you my friend." Wolfmon growled to Tai. 

WOLFMON DIGIVOLVE TO....... WEREWOLFMON 

Werewolfmon and Greymon were prepared to fight. But what were they fighting. A black cloaked figure? 

"Hehehehe. A challenge." The black figure began to grow, bigger and bigger until he became a huge, green tyrano. "Let's see how you fare against me." He was much larger than both Greymon and werewolfman. 

We need more help. Then, in answer to Tai's thoughts three digimon came through the door behind him. 

GABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO...... GARURUMON 

TENTOMON DIGIVOLVE TO....... KABUTERIMON 

PALMON DIGIVOLVE TO...... TOGEMON 

"Great just what the doctor ordered." 

"Did we make it in time Tai?" Matt came running up to stand beside a smiling Tai. 

"You sure did." 

"Wow look at that thing. Where did he come from?" Izzy stretched his neck out to take in the huge form of the tyrano digimon. 

"It's a long story Izzy, I'll tell you all later." 

"Where did Strike go?" Mimi was looking all over the roof in search of Strike but finding none she decided to ask. 

"He's up there." Tai pointed towards the battle being waged in the sky above. "That that insect digimon, Insectomon, took off with Joe and Sora. Tiger digivolved into Dragramon and they left to fight Insectomon." 

"Hey guys am I too late?" T.K came running onto the roof with Patamon beside him. 

"Hey T.K perfect. Think you can send Patamon up there to see what's happening in that battle." Matt pointed and Insectomon and Dragramon. 

"I'll go T.K, no need to ask." Patamon took of toward the battle. Meanwhile the other digimon were concentrating on destroying Tyrantromon. Izzy had discovered it's name and his laptop. It was a hard battle that wasn't going in their favour until Greymon digivolved into Metalgreymon and Garururmon followed suit becoming Weregarurumon. Togerther with the help of Kabuterimon and Werewolfmon they were finally able to destroy Tyrantromon. 

"Yes!! We got him!!" Tai and Matt cried out giving each other a high five. But all to soon the thrill of their victory was over when Dragramon and Patamon returned. Strike, Joe, Biyomon and Gomamon were all right. But Sora was badly hurt. She was conscious and they all took that as a good sign. Running forward Tai knelt down beside Sora. 

"Sora, this is my fault. I should have been more careful. Don't die on me now." There were tears in his eyes as he looked down on Sora who had a sad smile on her face. 

"Tai. I'm fine, I really am. Trust me I'll be alright. I'm just a little stunned, that's all." She winced when she finished talking and Tai looked at her in silent dismay. 

"Sora...I.... I love you too much too lose you." 

"Tai, you won't lose me. I promise." With a great effort Sora sat up and put her arms around Tai. She held him close. Close enough so that she could feel his heart beating against her. "I love you too Tai." She whispered softly in his ear. The only reason he was sure he heard he say that was because when Sora broke their embrace, she kissed him lightly on the cheek. Tai smiled at her and kissed her back. Turning around Tai began searching for Strike. 

"Hey you guys, where did Strike and Tiger go?" They didn't know. They said he just disappeared, almost as if he had never been there at all. "Hmmm oh well. We better get out of here. Are you well enough to walk Sora? You can lean on me if you need to." Sora nodded that she was okay and Tai helped her to her feet. Their eyes met for a few seconds until Sora looked away. Putting her arm around Tai's neck she smiled at him and said, 

"Well you guys. Let's get out of here." They left the castle and returned to the forest. Would they ever meet up with Strike, the guardian of the digiworld, again? They didn't know the answer, they didn't even know what would await them around the next corner, they only knew that they would be ready for it. And with a splash a new adventure had already begun. 

"Mimi, I'm sorry. It was an accident. I didn't mean to bump into to you. WAAAAAAA!!!" Joe began to run away from a very angry very wet Mimi. The others started laughing and watched as this all played out in front of them. 

"Get back here Joe. That's the second and final time you push me into the water!!! Now you will definitely pay!!" Meanwhile, high above them two lone figures stood looking upon this from the battlements of the castle. 

"I think they'll be alright Tiger. I really do." Strike began laughing as he witnessed Mimi throw Joe into the water. And a smile crept onto his face when he saw Tai and Sora clasp their hands together. "I think they'll be alright 

The End 


End file.
